Lost In The Dark
by nyx thranduillon
Summary: Éowyn is lost in the dark after killing the witch king. Aragorn and Éomer call her home. Written for the August 15 Teitho challenge 'Directions' where it placed 3rd behind some truly awesome stories.


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Dark, so dark, I can not see my hand before my eyes nor tell which way that I am meant to go. How came I to this place? The last that I recall is riding hard and fast, a small, warm body tight before me in the saddle, holding on so as to keep him safe and sound. A child? I do not think so but hard as my mind tries to see his face it slips away into the dark and I am left alone again.

Which way to go? My feet begin to move yet nothing changes. There is no left or right, no east nor west, nor north nor south that I can tell, just here and now. My heart begins to race and I halt, breathing deep to dispel this rising fear. I must be strong. I am a maiden of the shield, we do not quaver just because the sun has left the sky. We are of sterner stuff than those who live in lofty guarded halls and sit and sew whilst menfolk earn renown in war.

Where is this place?

I walk again although no footsteps echo as I move. No scent is on the air to give me hint of whether I am inside or without. I sense no damp or mould, no floral trace, no fresh, outdoors aroma that would tell of home. I am bereft of any sign to show the right direction for my aching heart to follow and find peace. The silence closes in and folds itself around me with the dark until I am cocooned against all else. My mind begins to wander with my feet and as I try to recall what has passed some faint and unclear images begin to form. My uncle, old and worn down by a traitors words, my brother, banished, cast out for his loyalty and love, my cousin, lying pale and dead, and over all the noxious litany of lies and foul deceit that did so nearly take our kingdom to its doom.

I start. A face begins to shimmer, pale and ghostly in the gloom. A hero out of legends came to aid us in our strife. My heart begins to speed as it remembers his tall and manly frame, his steely eyes which first seemed cold yet soon began to warm my frosty glares. His calloused hands which wiped away my tears with tender care. A man the like I had not seen before. Who bore himself as regal as a king yet rode as humble ranger 'cross the land. I sigh. Although my heart beats furiously, yearning for his love I know that somehow he is not for me and with this knowledge I am cut adrift within the dark once more.

I start my feet upon their way again and strain my eyes for aught to lead me true. Is it that I am dead? Is this what passes for the road to peaceful sleep? Where warriors can gain their well earned rest before the final journey out beyond the reaches of the world. If that is so will I be turned away? Or will I have to join the maidens spinning endless yarns to net the stars. Nay. I will not have it so.

A light. A flicker out there in the reaches of the dark, I gasp but it is gone. My feet move faster of their own accord as desperation now begins to well inside my chest. There! So faint as if to be a spectre, far ahead a single flame like shape hangs and flickers in the gloom. I run, unheeding threats or danger as the fear I have suppressed comes bubbling up to take control. My mind is taken over by a need which is familiar as breathing to a woman chained and fettered by her sex who would be seen as worthy to draw blade and fight alongside any man. Escape. To break all bonds and finally be free.

A scent begins to tickle at my nose. The scent of dew kissed greenery under first, pale light of day. The scent of life, of rolling hills and pastures and of love. A soft and gentle breeze begins to play around my hair and brings an air of freshness as if, of a sudden I am stood upon the highest mountain breathing air that none has 'fore me tasted, under sky alight with twinkling stars.

I hear a sound. A gentle whisper from a voice I know that I have heard before but where? The darkness fades and soon becomes no more than mist through which my eyes can now see movement just ahead. I pause, as sudden nervous butterflies invade my core. If I go on to freedom, what awaits me there? My hope is gone. The love I thought I wanted can not be. My heart quails for a moment and I waver on the edge not knowing if I should continue or retreat. Then suddenly uncertainty is swept away as through the clearing haze a voice so clear and well beloved calls out my name and once again my feet begin to race, as without thought and filled with joy I see my brother there before me and I rush to his embrace.

~fin~

' _Then, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of_ _Westernesse_ _, or whether it was but his words of the Lady Éowyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam._

'Awake, Éowyn, Lady of Rohan!' said Aragorn again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. 'Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is washed clean!' Then he laid her hand in Éomer's and stepped away. 'Call her!' he said, and he passed silently from the chamber.'

 _'Éowyn, Éowyn!' cried Éomer amid his tears. But she opened her eyes and said: 'Éomer! What joy is this? For they said that you were slain. Nay, but that was only the dark voices in my dream. How long have I been dreaming?'_

(The Return of the King, LOTR book 5, chapter 8. The Houses of Healing)


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